tale of the demon lord
by nericearren
Summary: A.k.a, the Phantom Lord Arc reimagined by an ADD teenager running on fumes and several crackfics that shall not be named here. LisannaXBickslow. Non-linear.


/he was bored, and she was cruel/

Bickslow leaned lazily in the doorway, his head cocked to one side, mouth toying with a small smile. "You look terrible," he observed. "Definitely close to death."

"Go away," the girl said tightly, her blue eyes narrow and indignant. "I hate you."

"No, I don't think so," he said lightly, and smiled. "I don't think so at all."

_and i loved him . . . i loved him, i loved him, i loved him. i still love him._

"He's a demon," Levy explained. "That's what all the rumors are saying. They call him Bickslow of the Demon Eyes."

"Why's he pickin' a fight with Fairy Tail?" Gajeel demanded from where he was sitting, attentive, at her feet. In the background, Natsu paced restlessly and Lisanna chewed her fingernails, one by one, to the quick.

"Phantom Lord has always wanted a war," Gray explained. "Though they chose a strange time to do so."

Levy, Gray, and Gajeel went back and forth about the reasons why and what for and so on; Lisanna ignored them. She was thinking of someone with such a terrible name as Demon Eyes. She couldn't decide if it sounded evil or just corny, like the name of a bad villain in an extremely cheesy book about vampires. Lisanna gnawed on her fingernail a little more, and tasted blood.

/he was bored and she was cruel/

He came to her suddenly, which was not what she wanted, and slammed into her so hard that her head whacked against the stone wall that she was chained to. His mouth crushed over hers; hard and hot and unwanted, and she struggled back.

"I like 'em with fight," he breathed, pulling back for a second. He yanked off his helmet, revealing a tattooed face, dark hair, green eyes. As soon as he looked at her, though, something seemed to go out of him. He stepped back, letting her slump forwards and take heavy, startled breaths.

"You're just a girl," he said, as though it had never occurred to him before.

"Hardly-" Lisanna began, but coughed and never finished. Bickslow took a few steps closer to her, cupped her chin in his hand, and kissed her again-gently, this time. It felt more like a benediction than a come-on, and before she could bite through his tongue or headbutt him or do any of the other nine million things she wanted to, he was gone.

_and i loved him . . . i loved him, i loved him, i loved him._

"Look, I don't wanna fight a girl," Natsu snarled, but the blonde girl opposite him wasn't paying attention at all.

"I will leech the defiance from your bones," she whispered. "I will tear your spirit into shreds. And I will make you my slave. I am Lucy of the Celestial Kingdom. They call me the Spirit Woman."

"I don't care what you're called-if you're an enemy of my guild, you're an enemy of me. Don't think I'll go easy just because you're a girl!"

"Don't think _I'll_ go easy just because you're my type!" Lucy retorted.

"Huh?" Natsu faltered, just long enough for an invisible force to knock him off of his feet. "Oh, no you don't!" he roared, and fire roared with him, and a stream of it rushed towards the woman standing on the roof. She waved her hand, and a wall of water cascaded downwards, dousing the flames. At her shoulder stood a woman bearing a water pot, who scowled at the scene, shook the last drops from her pot, and disappeared.

"What are you, a magician? How'd you make her vanish?" Natsu looked around as though the woman would appear suddenly again. Lucy scoffed. "You're an idiot."

"I'm an idiot who's going to beat you!" Natsu charged at her, and she was so surprised that he actually managed to tackle her. The two fell, an awkward tangle of limbs and hands and feet and his face was abruptly shoved into her chest. Their faces twelve different shades of red, the enemy mages sprung apart.

Lucy clutched at her chest. "I've never been-"

"That doesn't mean anything!" Natsu yelled, though he was blushing, as well. "You're still my enemy and I'm still going to fight you!"

"-so in love!" Lucy finished, and rushed at him. "Tell me your name, please! And your number-and your star sign-and everything!"

Natsu backed away, certain that she'd lost her mind. "Just fight me!"

Lucy stopped in her tracks, her lovestruck expression turning sour. "Fine, then. I'll fight you-and I'll make you mine. One of my celestial servants, at my beck and call for the rest of your life! We'll be together forever."

Natsu balled his fists. "I'd like to see you try."

/he was lonely and she was cruel/

Lisanna spat blood, and possibly a few teeth. "You aren't going to get away with this," she grated out, and the man standing over her laughed, his heel grinding her face in the dirt. "Don't ya get it, sweetheart?" he cackled. "I already have."

She was not in control of her body. He forced her to sit, to stand, to follow him with obedience through the quiet, dusky town. Inside, Lisanna cursed her own stupidity. With all of the unrest between the guilds, she should have known better than to walk off on her own. But Natsu had been looking so sad lately that she could barely stand to look at him, let alone spend time with him; even if he was her partner.

"We're gonna crush Fairy Tail. None of ya are gonna know what hit'cha!" The maniacal laugh of the man with the Demon Eyes rang through the misty town square, unnaturally loud, irreverently so. Lisanna could hardly believed that no one was awakened, that no one came to her rescue. But no one did.

Bickslow locked her in the bow of his ship, chaining her to the wall and leaving her there to bleed out, for all that it seemed he cared. He would not say what he wanted; but after seeing what he would do to get it, Lisanna hoped that her guild would give it to him.

_and i loved him . . . i loved him, i loved him, i loved him._

"Absolutely not!" the Master spat out, the ground vibrating with the strength of his disapproval. "We do _not_ make deals with Dark Guilds!"

"They have Lisanna," Cana pleaded with her father. "We can't sit by and do nothing!"

"Of course not," Gildarts scoffed. "We fight. And if that fails, we fight some more. And then, as a last resort-"

"We fight?" Gray cut in, skeptical.

"We fight!" the Guildmaster roared, thrusting his fist to the sky.

"All right!" Natsu howled, pumping both of _his_ fists in the air. "Sounds great!"

"But they have _Lisanna_," Cana repeated, sounding frustrated. "Phantom Lord has already proven themselves as bloodthirsty and untrustworthy. They might take whatever we do to them out on her."

"Our other alternative is to give in to their demands," Gildarts said, turning grave. "Do you really want to see that, Cana?"

The card mage bit her lip, unconsciously glancing at where Mirajane was trying not to cry in the corner. "No." They weren't going to turn one sister in for the other. That wasn't an option. Cana just wished that someone could think of a solution other than fighting for once.

Mirajane looked up, as if guessing that they were talking about her, and said hesitantly, "I'll do it."

"NO!" The answer was loud, unanimous, and absolute. But Mirajane stood up, her lower lip quivering, and faced them. "I know I'm not very strong," she said. "I've never been the fiercest fighter or best strategist. Honestly," she wiped at her eyes uselessly, "I haven't been much help to the guild at all. But Fairy Tail took us in-gave us a home-and I won't stand by while they're terrorized. If turning myself in will save my sister and my guild, you can't ask me to not do it."

"We can't ask you _to_ do it, either," Gray said frustratedly.

"I'm volunteering," she replied, sounding more firm than Cana had ever heard.

"No," Gildarts repeated.

"I'll just run away and do it," Mira threatened, and after one look at the Master, Natsu and Gray moved to restrain her. "NO!" she shouted, struggling as they dragged her away bodily.

Cana looked to the floor as they locked her in the storage room. When was this nightmare going to end?

/he was lonely and she was cruel/

"Lisanna and Mirajane and Elfman are our teammates! We will never abandon them!" Natsu threw himself headfirst at the Seith mage, even as his bones ached in protest. "It doesn't matter what you say that Mirajane's crimes are! Her past in Phantom Lord has nothing to do with us now! Let Lisanna go! Let my teammate go!"

Bickslow dodged the blow easily, taunting, "What if she doesn't want to leave me, eh?"

_and i loved him . . . i loved him, i loved him, i loved him._

"It's been two days. I think we've established that I'm not going to escape," Lisanna said, but Bickslow made no move to unchain her as he sat on the floor in front of her.

"This ain't my choice," he told her earnestly. "You know that. I'm just paid to do a job, and this particular job happened t'be kidnapping you."

"Right," Lisanna said sarcastically. "Because you're such a saint."

He laughed, though the sound was somewhat rusty. "Saint's got nothing on me, sweetheart. I'm the demon, or ain't you remember?"

"I remember," she replied. But she didn't really believe it. Demons didn't make excuses, or come and sit with their prisoners. Demons were evil through and through, and Bickslow was just . . . "You're lonely," she observed.

He stiffened, whole body tensing as one. "Wh-wh-no-" he stammered out.

"You're lonely; that's why you're here," she accused. "You just want a friend, and I'm the only one who can't run away."

"Y'mean, the only one too stupid to run away," he said, and she couldn't tell if he was angry or not. It was hard, with half of his face hidden away.

"Wh-" It was her turn to grasp, flustered, for words.

"You could'a escaped anytime," he told her. "You think I don't know that? You stuck around." He fiddled with the laces on his boots, looked up at her, then back down. "Why?" he asked quietly.

Lisanna bowed her head, cheeks burning. "Maybe I'm lonely, too."

/he was lonely and she was cruel/

Bickslow leaned lazily in the doorway, green eyes fixed on the girl in the bed before him. "You look terrible," he observed. "Definitely close to death."

"Go away," she said tightly, expression indignant and-if one looked closely enough-scared. "I hate you."

"No, I don't think so," he replied, barely containing a smile. "I don't think so at all." He moved from the doorway to her bedside, leaning over her so that her senses were filled and overwhelmed with him. "We're all friends, now. The battle's over, Fairy Tail won, I got my ass kicked, and everybody's goin' out for beer."

"That doesn't change what you did to me," Lisanna said, struggling to sit up, to gain even a little bit of control.

"I talked to you," he defended his actions. "I didn't beat you to a pulp."

"I'm so grateful," she said sarcastically. "I'll buy you a beer in thanks."

"It's a date," he replied, and grinned at her, leaning down to kiss her-she flinched away, only to feel ridiculous as his lips grazed her forehead.

"Calm down, sweetheart," Bickslow said. "We'll save the _really_ fun stuff for later . . . when no one else is around."

He slid his tongue over his lips, displaying the new guild tattoo on it-the mark of Fairy Tail. Lisanna's eyes widened. "They let you into the guild?"

"Sure did," he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Now, this whole "love for your nakama" thing-does that extend to all of the girls in this fine guild? Do you think I have a shot with any of them?"

Lisanna shook her head, smiling despite herself. "Not even one." Certainly not her-certainly not.

But she let him take her hand anyway.


End file.
